Coupler



Oct. 11, 1938.

T. WEBER vCOUPLER Filed March 28, 195e 2 sheets-sheet 1 Oct. l11, 1938.T. WEBER 2,133,065

CoUPLER Filed March 28, 1936 2 Sheets-Shed. 2 4'3 l 4% @l J 58 3'4- .56Egg. 5 l,

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Y Patented WOctal-1, i938 l 17" A4 .I 'n n Y n 2,133,065' y COUPLEI n'Tetiesgweten ne eigene, egiif. f Y f .npl'ieatieiilrrehf z8,iosanserji'a'l'N. '11,461v

, Y i A j f4 oleiins, .(oifzs'rok-ezialsl)` Y, Y Y 'My'inventionrelatesto'"animprovedfcouriler eleinentsafbasel E ,for attachmentto theland more particularly 'to thatj type which is body Lor fraine of apowerdriven vehicle such as adapted for attaching a drawn vehiolesubh as aats; a" 'yoke'Ff v vhihy is pivoted on the trailer tok a drivingvehicl'esuchas a;1 motor; driven n ng on anfaxisar id a" socket member GY -sl truck- 1, :i1 whicilai pivote@ on @revoke io .swing on an axis 5 KVCouplers for` such service which have beengand ytransverse rtothefaxisnof'fthe yoke onsaid base, Aare in common use are subjetedto-`a'rnultiplicity whereby a universal joint is produced to permitof'ithrusting and torsion movements produced by iree ation. illustratedthe axis of the yoke roughr'oads and'itv isthe primary 'objectfof thisonthe ybase is relatively horizontal and the Vaxis i inventionto'provide adevice of the kindstated of th fsocke't member G on the yokeis relatively 10 which has complete 4universal freedom wthinvertioa'l',1wh`erebysubstantially vertical and hori- Wide limits andwhichlwill endureseve're use'with Zontal Vnre'ver'nent between the Ypintle draw bar a minimum of Wear and Without breaking, strain-'-andjcouplingis fully compensated. ,y TheV meme ing or other disorder. nAnother object is to probersfE and-F'ithus producea universal clevisandvide a coupler which Will lock; against l'in'intemV theiragiesrxnaybereversedif desired, that is the 15 tional uncoupling of theparts andwhich can be agis-,between tljiebasfe and yoke `*may bedisposed easilycoupled' or uncoupled wheneverdesiredb'y' -Verially Oliv nelnedaldytheaXS 'between the anV operator and without the usefof .toolsllAnylendfspeke AmelnbelfV maybefdsposedhirother object is to provide aconstructiorivvh'ieh is ZOlially Ur 'inclined Within' the Spirit 0f mynsafeguarded against an operator having" his ventioni j A', Y y p nhands caught and niured'wlen theieplerparts fBeSeES fQIffiei' With.@Pair 0i, flanges '0 and are being connectedl or disconnected. ,iAim-ther' ILbetwelenjvvhich? the headwlZ lof yoke Fis plvobjectV` is tovprovide' a', coupler, the members of Ote@ bythejbelt 13;@'131- ySeidyokeri'sforivned With vvhich` will notjrattle and become noisylvvhen`'subi a Pair Qi f'rrnsor abutments I4 and l 5,'extendir1g jeeie'dftoextensive use.Y Among stili lfurther ele'-l fremvrits ,bedy; h|v2,;between which the cylindrical 25 jects are sirnpiieity,erl constructionand `greater Shaped head lli Of'seeket'member G is pivoted byei'ective'ness in use, than heretofore. g" means 0f the boltV I'l.vSocket rmember G has .a v Tothese ends myinventionicomprisstnefeaeenieel'rshapedi bedy I8 expanding outwardlyturesjofconstruction andjcombinationiof'parts' frqmgthe sidejofandintegral With'head l5 in Y hereinafter desen'bed and'eleimedj ivhieh4an'inwardly tapering ,Socket l9 is formed. 3o

In the accompanying' drawings, Y.forniingp,art The piiltlelawbarfef.CQUPlng rOd C has a of this'spe'cication,` Fig. lis asideelevatiorrjof` l Shenkn,Which'isdapted t'ofbe securedivby any' myinvention, fragments of edriving vehicle and suitable meansYto;tlflejtlrai,1er.ory other implement the reach of a trailer beingVshown and portions te jbe ,rlfavyn- Ashownfa.. fragment D of an of theuniversal clevis beingbrokenawayandfin Qrdlllfly Ieleh Whlehli$uallyttaehed t0 the 35 section ifi-expose pert'eftheentilrati1e-devmesi-i trailer Vie secured toithehank by` belting, at26. Fig. 2 isla side elevationvo'f'the 'I'Jiiitlef'draw` bariAThefeiwlfdjend .0f S/11.3911352515, ,formed With a Fig. 3 is e partielvertieai iongitudinaifsec'iion; fQIWardlyleperinfg pinne 21.. which isadapted'to Snewingpernons @fine seeker; ember, .e1evis,Ybe'rtativelyeeeteliifl thesodktltwherein it 40: 'inne drew barandieeir;Fig.4 iejaiseetie einen ie'held'bygepeyliiidncel belt. Y The connection4e :v In the dravvings, a fragment o'fth'e rear ofi 590km;membeS-re-10ng endapel" gradually 45' an automobile, A z'onstitufting"aV power 'drivenl v'elifV from. end to"v end .whereby Van extremelybroad cle by which a trailenorother roadvehieleor,rotative!jqgill'bearing iS produeedlbetweenth implement may' be drawnisf indicated by QA; Il'ii7SWhih,ifsV adaptedfto most/eiectively with-Secured thereto is a femalefcouplng member B Stand longitudinal'and-lateral Str'ains and imof my improjvemenmvto WhichaApintle:dravvf'bar'l IC'QStO'lWhiCh the device subject. MThe lock 50 orcoupling rod C, attachedfbya reach frameA *(9,* b'OItZBissIi'dablyinountedlina housing 30 on the fragment VVD thereefvbein'g shown invFig.VA 1)* tu side-ofthesocketmeniberto travel longitudinalthe irontend-of Athe-"trailer or'.other'fin'iplementY ly 'a'loriglanaxi's'jtransversegto the longitudinal to be drawnis -a'daptedtobe"-Msenfa'xablyjouple'd;v axis ofthe socket member. fThe4 cylindricalbody shaft 32V-by pin 42. r n n against the outer end of the cap 36*Vwhen the e with a key 3l resemblingza yoke which rotatively 'engages theshoulder 29 during the depressed ly rdepress the lock bolt into pintledraw bar l locking engagement.V The lock bolt is raised to release thepintle draw bar by'a release handle 40 which is formed with adoublecam4I. e This cam isk pivoted to the head end 34 of the lock bolt The vcamsurfaces Vpress rhandleMl is turned from dependingposition in eitherdirection to raise the lock bolt into superior unlocking positionv Whenthe handlefis turned into. *substantiallyV right 4angle yposition eitherone ,or the otherof the flatfedges 43 of Acam 4I will serve to.hold thehandle and the lockbolt from f unintentionallyfreturning to Ylockingposition.

' The outermost extremity'of the pintle draw bar y is rounded vat/4 6 soas tol slide freely below the innermost end Voff the lock bolt andcooperating Y with-thel taperingside of the pintle cause the lock Yboltto raise automatically while the pintle is beingthrust into the'socketmember until the key memberl3| slipsv over and into engagement withannular shoulder Y29, whereuponfthe pintle is prevented frombeing'unintentionally disconnected until the lock bolt is raised orunlocked. Y In producinglthe annular shoulder 29 an annular groove 41 isformed in the pintle and a taperingshoulderll is provided to escapecontact with 'the' lock shoulder.y Also to limit the inward thrust ofthepintle into the sockety aindprevent 45. caught and iniured by the devicewhile it is being 5" pintle draw baryfrom belng accidentally un-rbinding.` an annular guard 50 is providedA which is Y freeito'rotateagainst the outer `endf5| of the socket member G. Y This guard assuressafetyIto' the operator lby preventing the handsfrorn being coupledforuncoupled.

For the vpurpose of preventing unintentional uncoupling of thedevice;vthe lock bolt is locked in depressed locking position to prevent thecoupled, by'a'lock pin VIfI. 'I'his pinis slidably seated ina,cylindrical opening B0, through the slide of thelock bolt housing 30rand is adapted to slide into'and out of a lock pin receiving opening 6Iin theside o f the lockbolt; H The lockpin has aV shank B2 whichisadapted to slide longi-j V tudinally through a bushing 63. vThis bushingis threaded intoi housing 3l] and has a `semiannular shoulder6`4'vover`1which a pinl 65 may be held to retain the lock pin inoutermost lock boltf` engaging prositionWA helical expansion spring G6serves to urge the lock'pinI-I intollockbolt engaging' position.'Afshoulderl l'l'ron the outer end of shank"62 enablesA the operator toactuate thelock pin. When it is'desired to lock the vlockbolt after thepintle draw bar hasbeen coupled, handle G'Iis turneduntil pin 65disengages shoulder v64, whereupon lock pin' H engages/the lock bolt inopening lil.vv To. permit releasing' the-incl; bola-ghe pir;suraisedragainst' the action of spring 66. and turned runtil pin 65 Yengages and rides upon shoulder 64. By turn-v ing' handle4Il,intohorizontal position, cam 4I will @ses @mi an www bar dis-V'aisaoe j .making it difcult to uncouple the parts. the diameter of theguard is sufficient to reduce engaging position and the draw bar maythen be uncoupled.

In use the pintle draw bar may be easily inserted longitudinally intothe socket member and automatically engaged by the lock bolt, whereuponthe lock bolt may belocked against Vunintentional disengagement rbyreleasing the lock pin I-I. Y

The angle of the tapering surfaces between the pintle and ,socketmember, is sufficient and the position of the rguard Vsuch as to preventthe pintle from sticking to the socket member and Also alldanger of theoperators hand slipping and nbeinginjured when the parts are beingcoupled or uncoupled.A A passageway 14 through the wall of the bottom ofthe socket member provides exit for foreign material in the socketmember 'fand thereby assists in maintaining an operative jointbetweenthe pintle draw bar and female coupling elements and between thelock bolt and pintle drawbar. Y Y y To prevent or reduce rattlingif theparts of the couplerbecome worn, vanti-rattle devices and 'Il are`provided between the head I6 ofthe socket member Gandthe body l2 of yokeF and an anti-rattle spring l2 is interposed between the body I2y ofyokes F andthe base E which is secured to the driving vehicle. The baseE is also providedwith the usual link I3 (see Fig. 3) tofwhich Ya safetyemergency chain may be connected betweenthe ,drawnV and drivingvehicles.

VIt is contemplated that the coupler may be reversed within the spiritofmyinvention, that is Vthe femalev member mountedv upon the trailer andthe pintle draw bar fmember mounted upon the -power driven vehicle in an'equivalent sense.

In accordance with the patent statutes, I `have described ftheprinciples of operation of my invention together with the apparatuswhich I now consider to represent theA best embodiment thereof, but Idesire to have it understood that the construction shown Vis onlyillustrative andthat the inventioncan be carried out'by other means andapplied to uses other than those above set forth within the-scopeof thefollowing claims.

,Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tolsecure'by Letters Patent is: 1. 'A coupling device, provided With aYfemale socketmember/ having a longitudinal taperingl innerfsurfacfeAforming vran inwardly tapering bearing seat substantially throughoutits length,

a pintle member lhaving a couplingrend rotatively seatedj insaid' socketmemberand provided with a companion ,tapering bearing surfacesubstantially throughout the length of said socket mem- Yber wherebyV athrust bearing of maximum bear" ingsurface'is provided, said pintlemember also having janannular groove ybetween the ends of its taperingbearing surfaceland means for re-v leasably and rotatively holding. saidmembers coupled together. by engagementfwith ,said pintlememberinsaidgroove, said means cornprisin'g a cylindrical. lockY -bolt Vslidablein said socketimember havingla curved'key Yentering and journaleduponsaid pintle in said groove.

' 2. A coupling device, provided with a female socket Ymember` having avlongitudinal tapering inner surface formingfan inwardly tapering bearingVseat substantially throughoutits length, a pintle member having acoupling Vend rotatively seated in/said'socket member and provided witha companionatapering bearing Ysurface substan-v tiallyrthroughout thelength of saidv socket memspring pressed lock` bolt reciprocable in theside. of said socket member radially from the axis of ber whereby athrust bearing ofV maximum bearing surface is provided, said pintlemember also having an annular key engaging groove between the ends ofits tapering bearing surface, and a spring pressed lock boltreciprocable Vin theside of said socket memberV and provided 'with akey' on its inner end resembling asegment of a collar entering andjournaled in said groove and en-v gaging said pintle to Vhold the socketand pintle members rotatively and releasably connected.

3. A coupling device, providedrwith a female socket member having' alongitudinal tapering inner surface forming an inwardly tapering bearingseat substantially 'throughout its length, a pintle member having acoupling end rota- Vtively seated in said socket member and providedwith a companion tapering bearing surface substantially throughout thelength of said socket member whereby a thrust bearing of maximum bearingsurface is provided, said pintle member Y' also having an annular keyengaging groove between the ends of its tapering bearing surface,`a

said pintle and providedwith a key on its inner end resembling a segmentcfa collar entering and journaled in said groove and engaging saidpintle to holdV the socket and pintle members rotatively and releasablyconnected, and means for locking said lock `bolt with its key engagingsaid pintle member in said groove. y

4. A. coupling device, provided with a female ksocket member having alongitudinal tapering y inner surface formingan inwardly taperingbearing seat substantially throughout its length, a pintle memberrhavinga coupling end rotatively seated in said socket member and provided witha companion tapering bearing surface substantially throughout the lengthof said socket member whereby a thrust bearing of maximum bearingsurface is provided, said pintle member also having an annular keyengaging groove between the ends of its tapering bearing surface, aspring pressed lock bolt reciprocable in the side of 'said socketmemberand providedwith a. key on its inner end resembling a segment of acollar entering and journaled in Ysaid groove and engaging said pintletoV hold thesocket and pintle mem-

